Kuzul

Albert Pujols is being offered an eight-year deal worth over $200 million, according to a report from Sports Illustrated. The three-time MVP has given the Cardinals a deadline lasting until Wednesday, to offer him a contract that he would sign, if it matched what he is looking for.

The current proposed contract would average out to over $25 million a season, almost identical to the deal Alex Rodriguez currently has with the New York Yankees.

Still, many people around baseball believe Pujols deserves a contract that nears $30 million a year, meaning that the Cardinals are offering him nearly $5 million less than what he supposedly should be getting.

Another factor in these talks is whether or not the MLB Players Union will block Pujols from signing a contract with the Cardinals worth significantly less than what other teams are willing to offer. The union wants to “raise the bar” of where professional baseball players’ salaries should be and Pujols accepting a deal worth only $25 million a season would go against what the union wants.

However, Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee recently proved that it is still possible to accept a smaller contract in order to sign with a player’s most desired team. Lee was being offered more money by the Yankees and Rangers in his free agency but decided to accept a five-year, $120 million deal that placed him on an already excellent pitching rotation.

Pujols is entering the last year of his current seven-year, $100 million contract and has had some of the most proficient seasons of any hitter in baseball history, in the contract’s span of time. His time with the Cardinals has been highlighted by nine All-Star appearances, three NL MVP honors and, above all, a World Series title.

There is no indication of whether or not Pujols will agree to the Cardinals’ offer within the next few hours, but if he doesn’t, this deal will at least stand as a benchmark of where he wants the contract to be.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I was not born in St. Louis, and I don’t plan to live in the Gateway City past high school. But in the relatively short time that I have lived here, it has become clear that there is no city in the entire country that loves one athlete, make that one person, more than St. Louis’ love affair with Albert Pujols.

Seeing someone wear an Albert Pujols shirt or jersey in St. Louis is as common as seeing Longhorn apparel in Austin or Patriots sweatshirts in Boston.

Even I, a diehard Giants fan who despises most of Cardinal Nation, own a shirt with the No. 5 on the back. 

Albert Pujols is by far the most beloved figure in the St. Louis area, even more so than Stan “The Man” Musial, and the thought of him leaving never struck people here, until very recently.

Now comes the cold hard truth that The Machine may actually take his talents elsewhere, perhaps to New York or Boston and maybe to the hated Chicago Cubs.

It is fair to say that if Pujols leaves, Cardinal Nation will enter a state of emergency, one that Matt Holliday or Yadier Molina could not possibly heal. 

The 402nd pick in the 1999 MLB draft has turned out to be one of the top hitters in all of baseball and could potentially go down as the greatest home-run hitter of all time. His talents are invaluable and along with his personality, it’s no wonder why Cardinal fans like the guy so much.

He is pretty much the polar opposite of Barry Bonds in that he has a friendly relationship with his fans and the local media. He loves St. Louis almost as much as St. Louis loves him back.

The two make a perfect match, and that is why it has been such a surprise that Pujols has not accepted an offer from the Cardinals but instead has rejected their offer, according to USA Today.

Pujols has said multiple times that he wants to spend the rest of his career as a Cardinal, but we all know that money can sometimes trump hometown loyalty.

A lucrative $300 million, 10-year contract from the Yankees might be enough to separate Pujols from St. Louis, assuming the Cardinals couldn’t match a $30 million a year deal.

Who knows, maybe Pujols is one of those few guys who can put his fans first, money second. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen too much these days. 

Albert Pujols has brought so much joy to this city, including a World Series title in 2006 but it is time for St. Louis to accept the reality that this season may be the last time we see Pujols in a Cardinals jersey.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In an interview with ESPNDallas.com, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan predicted the Rangers to win 90-95 games in the upcoming season. Considering we are still months away from Opening Day, that comment is a little outrageous.

The Rangers were terrific last year, going 90-72 in the regular season before losing to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Even that team was barely able to hit the 90-win mark and their division may have been the weakest in all of baseball.

This season looks to be a lot more competitive in the American League West as the Oakland Athletics appear to be have one of the top pitching staffs in all of baseball and the Los Angeles Angels will have one of the league’s best offenses, assuming there are few to no injuries.

The Seattle Mariners will probably not be too much better than last year but they do have perhaps the best pitcher in the American League, Felix Hernandez.

When Nolan Ryan made the prediction, he had just finished a Q&A session with Rangers fans and he probably just wanted to raise fan morale.

The Rangers didn’t have a very good off season, losing Cliff Lee and replacing him with the injury prone Brandon Webb. The biggest acquisition was obviously Adrian Beltre but the loss of Lee will most likely

\out-do the impact of Beltre’s bat.

The World Series runner up will still have Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz but there is no guarantee that they will both have banner seasons again.

C.J. Wilson will lead the pitching staff, but the Rangers’ pitching as a whole is not nearly as strong as the Athletics’ staff and bullpen.

The Rangers’ schedule doesn’t appear to be too challenging, although they do play a three-game series at Philadelphia during inter-league play.

They finish the season with nine of 12 games on the road, but there is no telling what the standings of the AL West will be in late September.

Ryan predicted the Rangers would win 92 games last season and they came very close to accomplishing that feat, so maybe his predicting skills are better than most.

After all, he knows the Rangers better than just about anybody. However, all signs point to the AL West being very close this year, and a runaway champion seems unlikely.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Tonight, the second highest lottery jackpot in United States history, $355 million (boils down to $225 million) could be awarded if someone has the matching numbers on their ticket.

The chances of winning are near impossible—one out of 170 million—but if you won, you could pretty much buy whatever you want.

Here is what sports-related things I would buy if I were to win the jackpot.

Please share your dream sports purchases in the comments section.

Begin Slideshow

If the Phillies somehow manage to land Cliff Lee, they would undoubtedly have one of, if not the greatest pitching rotation in baseball history. Just imagine the Pirates having to face Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt in a three-game series. Pittsburgh would be lucky to score a run.

I personally believe the Giants have had the best pitching staff the last couple years, and this season, they proved me correct. Not only did the Giants’ pitchers post one of the lowest September team ERAs of all time, Tim Lincecum and Co. went head-to-head with some of the best pitchers in baseball (Lee, Halladay and Oswalt) and beat them. In the playoffs.

But if San Francisco had to face Lee followed by Halladay followed by Oswalt followed by Hamels (Hamels would be the ace pitcher for quite a few MLB teams), I don’t see how the the Giants could stand a chance.

You can make the argument that if the Yankees were to sign Lee, it would be even worse for baseball than if Lee rejoined the Phillies. However, the Yankees are already a near lock for either the AL East or AL wild-card crown, so just one more ace on their team wouldn’t matter too much in the long run.

The National League, on the other hand, still has the possibility of being somewhat competitive next year. In the NL West, pretty much every team has a chance to win the division. In the Central, the Reds and Cardinals look about even and in the East, well… you can pretty much count on the Phillies having the edge, regardless of where Lee signs.

Lee joining the Phillies would put them on a whole different level than anyone else in the National League. In reality, only the AL East’s Red Sox and Yankees would even have the talent level to compete with Philadelphia.

There is no denying how good Cliff Lee is. Let’s face it, the Rangers were not good enough to make it to the World Series this year without him. He is already of the best playoff pitchers in the history of the sport and is worth every penny that he will be signed for. Of course, that is only if you believe that the average MLB player deserves to be paid $3 million a year.

Adding Lee to an already outstanding rotation is like adding insult to injury for any NL East opponents. How exactly can the Marlins compete with the payroll of the Phillies? Adding Lee to the Yankees rotation will at least make the Yankees-Red Sox games even better.

The best case scenario is that Lee stays with Texas. Angels fans will not be too happy, but there will at least be a little more parity in the American League. Most of all, it will keep the optimism level of Mets fans up, if only for a few months.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com